Dr. Rustico Jimenez, President of Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, told radio dzMM that among the early signs of Parkinson’s being exhibited by Pacquiao include stuttering and hand twitching. Jimenez urged the Filipino champion to retire from boxing in order to avoid what happened to Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay) and award-winning trainer Freddie Roach who were both afflicted with the progressive disorder of the nervous system.

While it is true that such symptoms are well correlated with early onset of Parkinson’s, it would be absurd to attribute them to such a disease right away. There are many various diseases and conditions that include hand twitching as one of their commonly observed symptoms.

Sure it makes sense that after Pacquiao’s loss to Marquez some amount of brain damage had occurred, but gunning for such a terrible outcome is a bit premature. There are various evaluations that can detect and suggest Parkinson’s, and hand twitching is not one of the definitive ones. Until we hear more news with solid medical imaging evidence, I would suggest that Pacquiao fans don’t believe any impulsive rumors.

For one, we already know that Pacquiao has undergone an MRI, and as he himself had stated, “Everything is OK.”

Assuming that Pacquiao was truthful and was not himself misinformed, an MRI has cleared any possibility of a serious concussion or any kind of extensive brain damage. Both of those things are good, and cancel out the changes of immediate damage and threat.